Method and means for facilitating the landing and take-off of airplanes from movable runways



May 1945- M. UNGER ETAL 2,375,449

METHOD AND MEANS FOR FACILITATING THE LANDING AND TAKE-OFF OF AIRPLANES FROM MOVABLE RUNWAYS Filed April l, 1942 2 SheetsSheet l 3 R I l N N 8 8 o i N m n n v l' i s; I 1/ Q 2 N 5 up 0 Q ,3 m N u.

C s L h Y LL o N 0 ml "$2. I. N o

1 INVENTORS MAURICE" UN'GER WILLIAM OOKRANT y 1945- M. UNGER ETAL 2,375,449

' METHOD AND MEANS FOR FACILITATING THE LANDING AND TAKE-OFF OF AIRPLANES FROM MOVABLE RUNWAYS Filed April 1, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a FIG 9 INVENTORS MAURICE UNGER WILLIAM OCKRANT Patented May 8, 1945 umrs STATES, PATENT orncs iua'rnon AND MEANS Fore. FACILITATING THE LANDING AND TAKE-OFF OF AIR- PLANES, FROM MOVABLE RUNWAYS Maurice Unger and William Ockrant, Cincinnati, Ohio Application April 1,1942, Serial No. 437,176 1 1 Claims. -(Cl. 244-63) This invention relates to an improvementin the method and means for facilitating the landing andtake oil of airplanes from a movable runway,

as set forth in our copending United States pat-.

ent application, Serial No. 425,762, filed January 6, 1942.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide one or more barrier mem bars which are movable relative to and entirely independently of a movable, plane supporting runway, at speeds greater than, equal to, or less than the speed of a plane supported upon said runway,

for augmenting the effectiveness of said runway incident to the landing on and launching of airplanes therefrom.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a, movable plane supporting runway and a plane engaging movable barrier member having the hereinabove enumerated characteristics,

wherein the runway and barrier members may be operated in such a manner as to reduce to a practical minimum the amount of power required to land and/r launch a plane.

" ing surface of a movable runway.

A further object ofthe present invention is to provide a barrier member'which is designed so as to engage the rear wheel mounting or tail skid device of a plane, but which 'will not engage the front wheel structure of a. plane. 4

Still another object of the invention is'to provide a movable barrier member engageable by planes landing on a movable runway of the type disclosed in our. hereinabove identified copend-- ing patent application, and wherein the movedevice of Fig. 5 taken on line 6-6 thereof.

Fig. 5 is a top view of the deck of a ship pro-' viried with a modified form of the device of Fig.' 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through the Fig. 7 is a schematic side view of a movable runway which comprises a detail of the present invention. -i

Fig. 8 is an end viewv of drive pulley member 20 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view .of a modified form 0 tread member of Fig.7.

With reference nowto Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6, it will be observed that the present device comprises, broadly speaking, a movable plane supporting runway or member ill, and a, movable barrier device H which comprises a pair of spaced drive members I! which are interconnected at spaced intervals by transversely extending plane engaging barrier elements I3.

- ing the requisite characteristics of tensile strength,

durability, frictional coefilcient, and the like, whereby to provide a movable runway capable'of not only supporting aplane, but also of withstanding the stresses and strains induced incident to the movement of a plane thereover incident to landing and stopping the forward momeans of an electric motor I! of Fig. 2,-or the like.

ment imparted to the barrier by a landing plane is utilized to operate a control device which regulates the rate of travelof. themovabl, plane supporting runway.

Still a furtherobject of the invention is to pro- Vide a movable barrier member having the above enumerated characteristics, which is structurally simple, inexpensive in cost, yet highly efllcientin operation.

tion of a plane. Belt It may be suitably sup ported by and between a pair of spaced pulleys l5 and I6, one or both of which may be driven by If desired, a plurality of rollers I8 may be provided between pulleys l5 and I8 for supporting the upper reach I it of belt it in such a manner as to provide a substantiallyfiat surface adapted to facilitate the landing on and launching or take off These and other objects are attained, by, the

means described herein, and as disclosed inth of aircraft therefrom. I The various barrier elements l3 may be fabricated from any suitable flexible material, such as by way of example rope, chain, cable, or a rigid member such as a rod or the like, having such I characteristics as to withstand the stresses and strains lnduced incident to checking the forward motion of a plane landing-upon belt I 4. As best i Fig. 2.

disclosed in Figs. and 6, it will be observedthat barrier elements i3 extend transversely across belt 'l4 being spaced above said belt by a dimension denoted by the character D. The opposite ends of barrier elements l3 are 'securely anchored to drive members- I2, each of which comprise an endless chain, cable or the like suitably supported by and between a pair of spaced drive pulleys 20,

' drive pulleys l5 and i6 is on a common center with the axis of rotation of the barrier elements drive pulleys 20. The belt drive pulleysmay be rotatably supported by and between a pair of shafts 22 each of which may be supported for rotation relativeto their respective bearing-sum port members denoted generally by the numerals 23. One or both of shafts 22 may be provided with a gear 24 which is adapted to be driven by motor I! through intermeshing gear 25.

The barrier element drive pulleys 20 may comprise an inner flange 25 and an outer flange 26 direction interconnected by a central portion 21 of-reduced diameter. The circumference of theinner flange may be recessed as at 28 whereby to provide a peripheral track for drive member l2, whereas the circumference of the outer flange maybe provided with gear teeth 29 which are engageable by gear wheel 30 of drive motor 2 I. The central portion 21 of each of the barrier drive pulleys may be suitably supported for rotation relative to the bearing support member 3i, whereas a, bore 32 is provided axially through pulleys 20- through which shafts 22 of'thedrlve belt pulleys i5 and I8 loosely extend in such a manner as to permit independent rotation of pulleys 2,0 and pulleys l5.

and Hi and their respective shafts 22. If desired the barrier element drive pulleys 20 may be located beyond the belt drive pulleys i5 43 and l6, as disclosed in Fig. 4 thereby simplifying the structural details of the drive mechanism of With reference now to Figs. 1 and 5, the oper ation of the device when used to land planes will be described assuming that the device is mounted on the deck of a boat 40 which, it will be assumed. is moving in the direction denotedby the headed arrow ll, at a net speed of,25 miles per hour into a headwind of 10 miles per hour, denoted by the arrows 42. If the necessary flying speed of plane 43 be 60 miles per hour, then the ground speed of the plane relative to the deck of boat 40 will be 25 miles per hour, that is, the ground. speed will equal the flying speed less the total of forward speed of'the boat and the speed of the headwind,

wherein the term ground speed denotes the horizontal component bf the velocity of the plane relative to the-boat.

With these assumed facts it is spam that u belt I4 is stationary, plane 43 will travel an indefinite distance over thebelt until its'ground speed is reduced a certain predetermined value. However, if belt M is moved toward the oncoming plane in a direction indicated by headed arrow 44 at a speed not exceeding the ground speed of the plane, then the forward travel of the plane relative to the boat proper whereby'the length of runway pating the ground speed of required for dissithe plane will be will be materially reduced,

substantially reduced, as more fully set forth in our hereinabove identified copending patent application.-

The present invention contemplates the use of one or more barrier elements l3 which extend transversely across belt I4 and which are'spaced above said belt by dimensionD which locates the barrier elements below the. axis of rotation 45 of the front wheels 46 of plane 43 and above the axis of rotation 41 of the rear wheels 48 whereby the front wheels '56 will easily pass over barriers I3 whereas the barrierswill'positively engage the.

rear wheel support member 50, as disclosed in Fig. 1. It should be understood that on those planes provided with a tailskid member in lieu of a rear wheel assemblage, barrier l3 will ngage said tail skid member whereby the operating characteristics of the device will be substantially the same as with a plane having a rear wheel assemblage.

If bar rigr f plane travel, denoted by the headed arrow 5i, at a speed not exceeding the ground speed of plane 43, which in the example is'25 miles per hour, said barrierwill engage the forward, or left side of the rear wheel support 50. The "forward speed of manipulating a suitable control unit, not illustrated, of motor 2| whereby the braking effect of belt M will be materially increased and the forward travel of the plan'e rquired to dissipate its forward ground speed will'be considerably shortened. Therefore since the forward travel'of a plane after landing has been shortened, the overall length of the movable runway I0 may be of a dimension considerably less than the length re-. quired when the barrier member is not used.

The use of barrier elements i3 permits belt I, hereinafter referred, to as the movable plane supporting runway, to be operated at a substantially uniform rate of speed at all times and inasmuch as the mass of the runway is considerable,a great saving in power consumption will be effected by operating it at a substantially constant speed.

It will be observed that as soon as the ground speed of the plane is equal to the speed of the movable plane supporting runway the plane will be stationary relative to the boat proper, and when the forward'or ground speed of the plane is less than the speed of the runway the plane will be moved rearwardly relative to the boat in the direction of runway travel. .Such a rearward.

travel of the planerelative to the boat proper may be counteracted by operatingthe motor of the plane to overcome it, or by providing a, sec

ond barrier member such as 13b which will engage the rear face of the rear wheel support 50 for pushing the plane forward against the counter effect of. the'moving runway.

If desired suitable ,means, such as springs and iii of Fig. 3 may be interposed between the ends of the transverse barrier elements l3 and the drive members l2 in order to lessen the impact shock induced when the front plane' wheels pass over a barrier element orwhen such an elethe rear wheel support me'mberili.

merit engages In some instances it may be desirable to'provide means for precluding drive members l2 from being drawn together incident to the application vof a load to a barrier element. Such means may comprise a pair of spaced, parallel longitudinal tracks {53 which may include a longitudinal channelway 64 in which a follower wheel 65 is adapted to-travel', as disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6.

member I3 is caused to move in the barrier i3 may then be checked by Wheels" 65 may be provided with an axial bore 86 of a diameter greater than the diameter of barrier sum of distances J and K or until the barrier clamps 61 engage the outer face 68 of their respective follower wheels.

It will be observed that the mass of the barrier elements I3, including their drive members I2 is quite small compared with the mass of the movable runway wherefore. the speed and direction of travel of the barrier elements may be quickly, easily and accurately controlled. The speed and direction of travel of the movable runway cannot be so easily controlled, wherefore we propose to operate it at a substantially constant speed.

From the foregoing it is'apparent that the barrier elements I3 are usedto increase or'augment the ability of the movable runway to dissipate the forward speed component of a landing plane,

first by acting as a brake to reduce the ground speed of the plane to a negligible factor, and'then by acting as a pusher to move the plane off of the movable runway which, it will be observed continues to operate at a substantially constant speed.

take off. v

It should be observed that tread members 80 will not adversely affect the hereinabove described operating characteristics of the movable runway when it is operated in the direction of headed arrow {4 for dissipating the forward speed comspeed; the blocks or brakes may then be released whereupon the plane will move forward under its own power onto the movable runway. H; barrier element it may be moved toward the plane so as to engage the rear wheel support member 50 (or the tail skid) after which'the barrier elethe plane forwardly over the movable runway.

In this manner the requiredfiying speed. of the plane may be rapidly reached witha minimum amount of horizontal travelof the plane relative to the boat proper. The air speed of the plane will be equal to the sum of the forward speed of the boat, the speed of the headwind 42 the speed of the movable runway, and the forward speedof the plane or the barrier element relative to the runway dependingupon which has the greater relative forward speed.

In some instances it may be desirable to provide a plurality ,of spaced tread members 80 transversely of the movable runway Ill in order to augment the frictional engagement between a plane and the runway. Eachtread member may,

by way of example, be wedge shaped and taper upwardly from the top surfaceof belt l4 to an apex 8! at a' substantially vertical forward wall '82. Tread member 80' may include resilient means, such as springs 88 interposed betweenforward wall 82 and a bumper element 89 for lessening the'impact of a plane therewith. When the runway is operated to facilitate'the take off of a plane, that is, in the direction indicated by the headed arrow", the vertical walls 82 will engage the rear wheel or tail skid of a plane for preventing the plane from slipping relative tothe runway. during take off. When tread members are used the movable runway wouldbe, operated augmenting the ability of the runway to drive a plane forwardly incident totake'ofi.

Asdisclosed in Fig. 8 the inner face of flange 25 may be cut away as at H for accommodating clamp member 61. The cut away portion 11 likewise prevents slippage between the barrier element drive members H with the recessed track-like portion 28 of drive pulleyifl.

In some instances the barrier elements may be utilized as a control unit for governing the rate of lineal travel of the movable plane supporting runway lt,'by interpos'ing a-suitable device, not shown, between pulleys-2t and |5i6 which device is adapted to translate the impact speed with which a plane 63 engages a barrier element It to that speed of travel of the movable runway necessary to most effectively dissipate the forward speed component of the landing plane;

- 'Such a device would operate as follows with that boat 40 is moving into a 10 mile an hourheadwind at a speed of 25 miles per hour, and that the movable runway is normally moving in the direction indicated by the headed arrow 44 at a speed of 20 miles per hour, it is apparent that the ground speed of the plane is 25 miles per hour greater than the boat proper, but only 5 miles per hour greater than the movable plane supporting runway. Under these assumed facts, plane 43 will engage barrier element it, which may be stationary or slowly moving in the direction 01" headed arrow 50, and if the-ground speed of the plane relative to the runway is greater than the speed of the barrier element the speed of rotation of pulleys 20 will be increased, thereby driving motor 2! which would then function as a generator. The current thus generated by motor 2| maybe utilized to operate any well known control circuit forincreasing the speed of the movable runway drive motor ll until the rate.of travel of said runway will equal, or be a certain predetermined ratio of the ground speed of the In this manner the barrier elethe particular plane landing thereon. I

In lieu of the electrical control means hereinabove described for using the barrier elements to control the speed of the movable runway, a mechanical drive means may'b'einterposed between pulleys 20 and pulleys Iii-l6 whereby the speed and force with which a barrier element is driven by a landing plane may be utilized to drive the movable runway at speeds greater than its normal operating speed.

It should be understood that certain changes in the structural details of the device may be to impart to the plane an air speed sufllcient for made, such as by way of example, substituting a plurality of drive rollers in lieu of the endless belt H- 'for providing a movable runway, or by providing an auxiliary .tail skid device'or special landing hook of the. general typ used by the United States Navy to engage the movable bar rier members, and the like, within the scopeof the appendedclaims, without departing from the' ber movable relative to and independently of said movable runway, said barrier member adapted to augment the ability of the runway to retard the forward speed component of -a plane landing on said runway.

2. In a device of the class'described the com- 'bination of a supporting member, a plane supporting runway movable relative to said supporting member, and a plane engaging barrier membermovable relative to and independently of said movable runway, said barrier member adapted to augment the ability of the movable runway in accelerating a plane supported on said runway to a take ofi? speed.

3. ma device of the class described the combination of a supporting member, a movable plane supporting runway, means for imparting a linear motion to said runway relative to said supporting member, a plane engaging barrier ment, and of then decelerating the rate of travel of the barrier element until the ground speed of the plane approximates the rate of travel of the movable runway.

6. The method of dissipating theground speed of a landing airplane, which comprises the steps of imparting a linear motion to a plane supporting runway in a direction opposed to the direction of travel of the landing plane and at a rate of travel less than the ground speed of the plane, of moving a plane engageable barrier in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the runway and at a rate of travelless than the ground speed of the landing plane whereby the plane will quickly engage said movable barrier, of then decelerating the rate of travel of said barrier whereby the groundspeed of the plane approximates the rate of travel of the movable runway, and of then moving said barrier relative to the plane whereby to push said plane from said movable runway,

7. The method'of imparting air speed to an airplane incident to take on, which comprises the steps 01 imparting a linear motion to a plane element disposed above said runway, means for controlling the rate of travel of said barrier, said barrier adapted to augment the ability of the runway to retard the forward speed component of a plane landing on said runway when said barrier is operated tov brake'the forward speed of the plane independently of and in addition to the braking efiect of said runway.

4. In a device of the class described the combination of a movableplane supporting runway, means for imparting a linear motion to said runway in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of a landing plane, a movable barrier device, said device comprising a plane engaging barrier element spaced above and extendingtransversely across said runway and means disposed on opposite sides of said runway for-supporting said barrier element, means for imparting a linear motion to said last mentioned means for moving the barrier element relative to and independently of said runway, said barrier when movedin the samedirection as the direction: of travel of a landing plane but at a speed less than the ground speed of said plane, adapted tobe engaged by said plane, said barrier element adapted to be operated to brake the forward speed of the plane thereby augmenting the ability of the runway to retard the forward speed component of a landing-plane.

5. The method 'of dissipating the ground speed of a landing airplane, which comprises the steps of imparting a linear motion to a plane supporting runway, wherein the direction of linear mo tion of said runway is opposed to the direction of travel of the landing plane and wherein the rate of linea1 travel of said runway is not greater than the ground speed of the landing plane, moving a supporting runway in the direction of take off,

andat a rate of travel approximating the'air plane, and of then rapidly accelerating-the rate of travel of said barrier to push the plane whereby the forward motion of the plane will equal and then exceed the rate of travel of the movable runway for effecting take off of the plane.

8. In a device of the class described the combination of a planaa movable plane-supporting runway, said runway comprising an endless belt, means for supporting the upper reach of said belt whereby to provide a substantially flat, plane supporting surface and means for imparting a lineal motion to said 'belt, and a plane engaging plane engaging barrier elementrelative to and in an opposite direction to the direction of travel of said runway and at a rate 'of travel less than the ground speed of the landing plane wherebi I the plane will engage said movable barrier elebarrier, said barrier comprising a transverse element which extends laterally across and above said belt, the opposite ends of said barrier being supported by and secured to'a pair of parallel, spaced endless cables, means for mounting said endless cables on opposite sides of said runway and means for imparting a lineal motion to said said barrier relative tot'said cables for moving runway, andmeans for selectively controlling the rate of lineal motion of said barrier; said runway adapted to be given a lineal motion toward the direction of travel of an incoming plane which is adapted to land thereon, said barrier adapted to be moved in the same direction. as the landing plane and at a rate of travel less than the ground speed of the plane, said barrier-adapted to be engaged by saidplane after which the lineal motion of the barrier may be decelerated for re- I tarding the forward speed component of the 9. The methdd of dissipating the ground speed of alanding airplane, which comprises the steps of imparting a linear motion to a plane supporting runway in a direction opposed to the direction of travel of said plane and at a rate of travel less than the ground speed of the plane, of pro- I v ding a. movable barrier in the-path of said:

plane which is engageable by the plane after landing upon said runway, andof utilizing the motion tlius imparted to said barrier for con- .trolling the rate of lineal travel of said runway.

way in either of two directions; a flexible plane engaging barrier element mounted above said runway and movable relative thereto, means for imparting a linear motion to said barrier element in either of two directions at speedsless than, equal to, or greater than the rate of linear travel of said runway, said runway adapted to be moved at a substantially uniform rate of speed in one direction for launching an airplane and inthe opposite direction for retarding the forward roll of a landing plane, said barrier element adapted to be moved in the same direction as the runway for pushing a plane over the run way at a rate of speed greater than the rate of linear travel of the runway for augmenting .the ability of the runway to impart a suflicient air speed to the plane for take ofi, said barrier element adapted to be moved in an opposite direction to the direction of travel of the runway for retarding the forward roll of a landing plane by exerting an independent braking effect on the plane for augmenting the ability of the runway to retard the forward roll of a landing plane.

11. In a device of the class described the combination of a plane including means for support-- ing the forward end of the plane on a supporting surface and other means disposed at the other end of the plane for supporting the rear portion thereof, a movable plane supporting runway, means for imparting. a linear'motion to said .runway, a plane engaging barrier element movable relative to the runway, said barrier element extending transversely of and being spaced above the runway by a dimension adapted-to preclude engagement with the first mentioned means and to positively engage the second mentioned means which supports the rear portion of said plane, and means for imparting a linear motion to said barrier element at speedslessthan, equal to or greater than the rate of linear travelof a plane supported on said runway.

MAURICE UNGER. WILLIAM OCKRANT. 

